NSMW08

Elizabeth Doyle-Davies
North & Scotland

Last had school dinners 26 years ago. They were ok, nothing special, lots of stodge, lots of chips, not a great selection of veg. Can't remember any fresh fruit only tinned. However one school I went to made a thing called Manchester Cake, which was orange mousse on top of chocolate crispie cake. Lovely!

Keally George
North West

School meals were always the best especially in winter time, stew with mash potatoes, cheese and onion pie and chocolate sponge with mint custard. Always warmed you from the inside out. Beautiful! (Mouth watering as i type).

Jean
Eastern

In the 60's we enjoyed our dinners with meat, veg and mashed potatoes. Lovely sponge puddings with custard, or pink custard or choc sauce. I do not remember leaving anything except when I was expected to eat pickled red cabbage with a beefy hot-pot. Salad days were quite a luxury. We did not complain we were always hungry and grateful for anything. They were happy times, sandwiches were not an option. The staff were always kind and helpful too.

SUSAN
West Midlands

33 years ago I was at primary school and to this day my mouth waters at the thought of school dinners. Heres a few of my favourites, hot scotch egg salad, faggots, liver and onions, meat pie and puddings, hot doughnuts and milky coffee, shortcake and strawberry custard, choc crunch and mint custard, semolina, and my all time favourite was the synthetic cream that was used with a lot of the cakes.I have no idea what it was made of and we only ever got 1 swirl of it but it was like eating heaven! As a result of my lovely school dinners I must admit I do love most food and I always clear my plate!!

corrina astley
West Midlands

I always stopped for school dinners and it was the highlight of my day! Myself and my sister used to serve the dinner to the rest of the table. I especially remember the chocolate shortbread and peppermint sauce and also the rainbow sponge. They were lovely and always have been!

Vicky Astles
North West

Our school dinners were cool most of the time, we had a choice of four different canteens which offered different types of meals, eg. hot food, cold food etc. I prefered the hot food one as you always got more in that one because the dinner ladies were lovely !!!

Tori hall
West Midlands

school dinners where very good in our school. Great choice of food and always fresh. But pizza was always favoured.

Alison
North West

I went to Helsby High and the meals there were great, my friends mum was one of the dinner ladies so we always use to get extra.

Theo
Anglia

My brother had school meals when he went to High School and said how good they were, so now I am at High School I have them and think they are good also. Like the pasta, don't really eat the main meals

sally
Anglia

My friend jessica has school dinners as well and we both really like them.

richard
North & Scotland

The dinner ladies are really good at my sons school and the food is great too.

emily
London & South East

My dad doesn't always have the time to make me sandwiches, but I don't mind as I prefer school dinners. I like it when I get to sit with my friends. I do like sandwiches as well and hate to queue, but most of the time its OK and we do get served quickly

barry
London & South East

I don't always choose the healthy option, but I like most of the meals.

clare
West Midlands

Can't decide which is my fav school lunch, as they are all great!

anne
Anglia

Back in the day when I was at school, I would never have dreamed of taking sandwiches as the meals always smelt so nice and tasted even better. My fondiest memeories of school were in the dining hall eating the food, oh and PE.

robert
North & Scotland

My mum says that I should have school dinners because she wants me to have a hot meal during the day. My friends all have school dinners. I like most of them ... its ace when we get seconds

catherine
North & Scotland

My best is roast dinner catherine aged 6

paul
Wales

I use to have packed lunch and was made up when my mum said that I could change to school dinners. The ladies were always funny... he he... made the school day enjoyable

andrea
North West

I use to love school meals, there was always lots of choice and in the winter you needed a hot meal during the day.

elizabeth luke
North & Scotland

I had school meals in the 70's - I have fab memories of home-made bread, apple pie and ice-cream and amazing chocolate cake and custard. I used to look forward all morning to my lunch - the staff were great , like substitue mums !

fiona hughes
Wales

I loved my school meals from chicken and mushroom pie with crusty pastry to shortbread cake with chocolate custard.yum!!! in school in the 1980's

Gracie Starkey
South West

I have school lunches, sometimes I don't like it and sometimes I do and the best thing is 3 mini sausages. There are different people serving everyday and my Dad tells me to bring home the custard for him in my book bag. Gracie Age 5

Adam Starkey
London & South East

I was always really really hungry at lunchtime! Square ball in the playground and nothing to eat at breaktime made sure I was always ready for food. Braised liver, over-cooked cabbage and mashed potato was without doubt the worst, but I still ate it! Growing fast I was always looking for seconds - my record was eighths of sausages but I was beaten by Simon Wavell who managed ninths!

Stef
Anglia

I only had school dinners at primary school and they were yum. My favourites were cheese aigrettes and sometimes we had bacon and scrambled eggs... wierd but true. My favourite pudding was like rice krispie squares on the bottom with a strawberry jelly mousse on top, I've never forgotten it... it was to die for. Didn't like being force fed coffee on a cold day though... it still makes me feel sick!!

Marie Shaw
West Midlands

I used to work as an Admin Assistant in a local primary school. Every Thursday staff and the community were encouraged to join the children and eat school dinners together. The children loved it and everyone wanted me to sit on their table! I loved chatting with the little ones and from what I remember the meals were nice too!

Tina'Maiye
West Midlands

Im at senior school now where i have school dinners, we dont always have a lot of choice but i try and stick to the healthy stuff. I enjoy the different types of pasta king which i have quite alot and the price of our school meals are good.

Gordon Carson
North West

40 years ago I went to school in Maghull and the dinners there were SPOT ON There was no soggy cabbage, lumpy custard or a choice for that matter! What you got was what you were given, and if you didnt like it - tough, you went hungry. But to be fair, I never met any hungry kids who stayed for a school dinner. This is what should be happening today - all this mamby pamby choice nonsence, a set wholesome meal made with simple fresh home made ingredients is the name of the game. Bring back table monitors and family service. Its no wonder some kids can't use a knife and fork. What are those flight trays all about? Bought in I suppose because the Health & Safety managers say that the kids may burn themselves - this never happened in my day, not a burnt finger in sight - EVER! I was a table monitor and always got a bigger portion than the rest on my table - greedy begger!

Neil Porter
South West

The cheese scotch eggs and chocolate crunch with peppermint sauce were just 2 of my favourite recipes.. I loved my school dinners!

stephanie lund-clark
West Midlands

My fonest memory was of strawberry yogurt with a biscuit also a chicken type stew which was to die for. Have never been able to make it the same. I loved school dinners, we would all sit very quiet on our table just to be able to go back for seconds.

Louise savage
West Midlands

I remeber the sociability of all sitting together. I especially enjoyed the chocolate crunchy slice - it was always a favourite at our school. We also used to have hot chocolate in the winter ; on those cold dreary days it was always welcomed!

Anni Clarke
London & South East

When I was at Caversham Primary School 39 years ago my overwhelming memory is the horrible smell of the school dinners hall! We all moaned about the food but loved roast dinner (roast potatoes, yum!) and the fantastic puddings. Any kind of sponge with white, brown or pink custard was a real winner, but I still can't face rice pudding today! Gypsy tart, a kind of butterscotch mousse in a pastry case, was our 'marmite' pudding - you loved or hated it. Every few months we had chips... that was a red letter day. We all hated the steamed up, smelly dinner hall but the day it burned down we all cried and were delighted to get back to it after months of school dinners arriving in the back of a van in great big silver vats.

Kerry Brabazon
West Midlands

one resounding memory is hedgehogs in the grass. Chocolate Cracknell and Mint Custard. oooh yum. One thing that I detested was the lind of luncheon meat fritter with batter round it, yuk! Most of my dinner ladies were a distant memory, but there was one who always insisted you ate everything on your plate whether you liked it or not - not always with good results (if you know what I mean) - as one dinner lady found out - i still see her around today, but I don't think she remembers me thank goodness. As I got older and went to senior school we were allowed to choose for ourselves and pay at the till and so my favourite then had to be sausage rolls with really flaky pastry, chips and cheese.

jake todhunter
North & Scotland

i am only a child but a few years ago i was on school dinners but they were not the nicest and sometimes i did not know what i was eating and also for cornflake tart you needed a hammer. When we had the turkey twizzlers they tasted horrid but as i have seen they have definately changed now...

Jenny Swain
South West

I went to Primary School in 1980, and I used to love my school dinners. My foundest memory was of the short bread and pink custard! It used to be so hard you would try to break it with your spoon and fork and it would fly out of the dish. But when you finally ate it, it was delicious. The hot dinners were always good, especially the roast dinners, although the meat used to be cut very thin, but the roast potatos were lovely and the vegetables were always bareable. My children have always had sandwiches as they do not enjoy the school dinners now adays, which is a shame, as I remember mine with very fond memories. When I reached secondary school it was not the done thing to have the school dinners, so we used to hit the shops, which was a shame as it would usually end up with chips or a sandwich from the bakeries. Not the yummy shortbread and pink custard!

rhea whitehouse
West Midlands

I remember school meals were fantastic. Well cooked and tasty. It was usually the only substantial meal of the day (and enjoyable). If I was lucky there was seconds, so a real feast and treat. I rarely had meat at home and so having it at school was fantastic. I even loved the mashed spuds, served from the scoop. I am talking of meals in the mid/late 70s early 80s...proper food. Not chips and fast foods.

Karen Ramsay-Smith
West Midlands

Mrs Cashmore Mrs Anderson Mrs Peake (my Primary School dinner ladies - i went to a strict school run by nuns - we were not allowed to leave ANY food) without you I would not have these memories:- Homemade Cheese and Onion Pie with mash and beans - the best! Choc custard and choc sponge Ginger cake with icing and white custard Letting me leave prunes and rice pudding which I HATED - thank you Mrs Peake for hiding my sisters tomatoes in your pocket so she didn't have to eat them as they made her sick Ox tounge - yes I said OX TOUNGE YUK!!

helen
West Midlands

I loved them I used to look forward to them.We sat eight to a table and our meals were in tins which were cut into eight and served by the top two at the table. We had pies and stews etc.and followed by a steam or sponge pudding or pie with custard and my favourite was chocolate sponge and chocolate sauce yum yum!!!!!!

June Thompson
London & South East

I remember my school dinners at the 2nd primary school I attended. The tables were set out and there were different years on the table. The food arrived in big silver dishes and the older students (monitors) served everyone else on their table. When we all had our food we would then begin to eat.

carla
West Midlands

I grew up in America in the Deep South and my favourite school dinner was taco salad, sweet corn, cinnamon roll and sweet iced tea.

Dawn
West Midlands

I remember chocolate crunchy cake with raspberry sauce - my favourite! Worse thing ever was the school cabbage, limp and soggy put me off cabbage for life!

liz chapman
Eastern

I don't know why people complained, i thought they were great. i remember a teacher shouting in the dining hall."these are not lollipops, use your knives and forks" about the sausages. great memories!

Trish
London & South East

Fond memories of a special dinner lady at my Primary school. She used to save the skin from the custard and I'd often be allowed to go back for thirds! Yum!

janine
North West

I loved the meals they served at school and as my mum was one of the cooks it made it even better!

sarah dawson
London & South East

Mmmmm as you say - Pink Custard... and Chocolate sauce... Loved the roast dinners and the chocolate crunch. Real favourite was cheese and rice flan. My Cook gave all the mums the recipe. All the staff stayed on a Friday when it was cheese and rice flan!!!!

patricia jackson
North West

MMMMMMM... who remembers cornflake pie and custard, and sausages, mash n beans, n pink custard!!!!

sharon shieber
Eastern

I loved my school dinners, in my junior school there was a set dinner with a pudding which I can always remember the frothy custard with jam and coconut sponge, iced sponge pudding, semolina and frogs spawn (Tapioca), when I went to comprehensive school we had a cafeteria type layout where we could choose what we had from main courses and a choice of vegetables and puddings, my favourite was Queen of puddings. We always got a well ballanced healthy dinner.

Gerry
North & Scotland

I met my wife ( Pat) on the school lunch table - she was serving the gravy!! Who says romance is dead? We have been married for over 40 years but she no longer serves gravy with meals as she claims not to like it!

Hazel Green
London & South East

"School lunch was a real experience in my school days and I have extremely fond memories of some fantastic puddings which I am still addicted to now! In the years I have been working for the Local Authority Caterers Association, I have nothing but praise for all the school chefs and their teams. They work like Trojans, are so committed to what they do and they really care about producing great meals for their children. They all need a medal!"

nigel james
Anglia

Loved school meals, loved the food and the people serving it....

Dave Johnson
Eastern

With two young children and being a working dad, I was indebted to school meals to provide them with a healthy, balanced diet at a price that I could afford

Margaret
North & Scotland

School lunchtimes taught me a meal time behaviour discipline that served me well in later life

Jim
Wales

School meals - great, the best part of being at school

Anne Long
Anglia

Long before Nigella we had our own domestic goddesses in the school kitchen !

Derek
London & South East

Spotted Dick, jam roly poly and semolina. I will never forget the warm, satisfied, inner glow that I got from school puddings!

Alan Davies
North West

My school lunch was my favourite meal of the day, much better than my mums cooking! ... but dont tell her!!!!!